Carotenoid availability affects the development of a colour-based mate preference and the sensory bias to which it is genetically linked.
Proc Biol Sci
; 272(1577): 2181-8, 2005 Oct 22.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-16191629
Regardless of their origins, mate preferences should, in theory, be shaped by their benefits in a mating context. Here we show that the female preference for carotenoid colouration in guppies (Poecilia reticulata) exhibits a phenotypically plastic response to carotenoid availability, confirming a key prediction of sexual selection theory. Earlier work indicated that this mate preference is genetically linked to, and may be derived from, a sensory bias that occurs in both sexes: attraction to orange objects. The original function of this sensory bias is unknown, but it may help guppies find orange-coloured fruits in the rainforest streams of Trinidad. We show that the sensory bias also exhibits a phenotypically plastic response to carotenoid availability, but only in females. The sex-specificity of this reaction norm argues against the hypothesis that it evolved in a foraging context. We infer instead that the sensory bias has been modified as a correlated effect of selection on the mate preference. These results provide a new type of support for the hypothesis that mate preferences for sexual characters evolve in response to the benefits of mate choice--the alternatives being that such preferences evolve entirely in a non-mating context or in response to the costs of mating.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Seleção Genética
/
Comportamento Sexual Animal
/
Poecilia
/
Pigmentação
/
Carotenoides
/
Percepção de Cores
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Aspecto:
Patient_preference
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
Caribe ingles
/
Trinidad y tobago
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Proc Biol Sci
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2005
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos
País de publicação:
Reino Unido